Safety lock clip



Dec. 13, 1955 A, E. ZYNDA ETAL 2,726,392

sAFTY Loox CLIP Filed May 14, 1954 F/CS. 2

E 2s a Z5 E 24 E 2/ /7 g Y 35 IN VEN TOR.

United States atent O SAFETY' LUCK CLlP Alfred E. Zynda, Silver Spring, Md., and Herbert F. Zynda, Charles Town, W. Va.

Application May 14, 1954, Serial No. 429,890 2 Claims. (Cl. 292-34114) The present invention relates to a device for attachment to door latch keepers for latches of the type that have a locking mechanism incorporated in the knob and latch mechanism.

In most of the interior door latch mechanisms presently in use and of increasing use due to their simple and inexpensive construction, a locking mechanism is operable to keep the latch bolt at fully extended position in the keeper opening upon pressing either of a button projecting from the knob or by sliding a double-ended latch lever in the base of the knob.

Other types of the same general construction have locks operable by buttons projecting from the latch plate or from the stem of the knob, all of them utilizing the latch bolt and omitting the ordinary lock bolt which was separably operated, usually with a key or with a wingshaped handle.

The present invention is intended to be attached to the keeper plate of the latch type which uses the latch bolt as a locking bolt, although it may also be used with or without modiiication on the keeper plate of a separate locking bolt. The doors of bathrooms and bedrooms are frequently provided with these types of locks and are very often the cause of much inconvenience when children or ill persons inadvertently lock the door from the inside and are unable to unlock it.

Some of the doors having the combination latch and lock bolt provide a small opening from the other side by means of which a slender probe or nail may be inserted to unlock the bolt, however, this is a further inconvenience to keep available the nail or probe for such a contingency, and is exceedingly diicult to use in the dark or relatively dark interior of some halls, and with the attendant confusion of haste and frightened children locked on the other side of the door.

The principle object, therefore, of the present invention is to provide a simple and easily installed device which will prevent the door latch bolt from seating sufficiently to permit the lock mechanism to operate, and yet will permit the latch mechanism to restrain opening of the door in normal fashion.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple clip which clamps upon the edge of the latch keeper in such a manner as to require only a screwdriver and a sheet metal screw to tix it securely to the edge of the keeper.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a clip which is easily installed and removed and one which may be moved to another door jamb as the requirements of the house-hold indicate, and one which may be formed in a single stamping operation on a stamping machine of ordinary construction.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be fully apparent upon consideration of the following description when taken with the annexed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a view of a door having both a latch bolt 2,726,892 Patented Dec.. 13,` 195,5

ice

and a lock bolt and showing the position of the present invention in place over the keeper openings of both;

Figure 2 is a view in elevation of the door jamb with the present invention shown installed over the keeper openings, as seen on line 2 2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a vertical view in cross section showingthe device of the present invention as on line 3-3 of Figure l;

Figure 4 is a view in perspective of the device of the present invention as seen on one side; and

Figure 5 is a similar view as Figure 4 seen from the other side.

Referring to the drawing in greater detail in Figures l and 3 a door is indicated at 10 and a door jamb is indicated at 11, with a latch plate 12, knob 13, and lock handle 14, all of conventional construction. In Figure 2 the keeper plate 15 is seen to have an opening 16 for the latch bolt 17 and an opening 18 for the lock bolt 19, both bolts being indicated in dotted lines in Figure l.

In Figures 3 to 5 it will be seen that the present invention consists of a resilient strip of spring brass or steel, formed into a substantially V-shaped body 21 having one leg 22 formed with a centrally disposed hole or aperture 23 to receive a fastening element or sheet metal screw 24, and the other leg 25 is provided with a pair of slots 26 and 27, intersecting at their midlengths and aligned with the aperture 23 in the one leg 22. The portions of the leg 25 adjacent the slots 26 and 27 forming opposed prongs which selectively engage the threads of the shank of the screw between them so that the free ends 28 and 29 of the legs 22 and 25 may clamp on the rear edge 31 of the keeper plate 15 when the screw 24 is tightened.

The body 21 has its apex 33 bent laterally to form a lip 34 which engages the free end of the latch bolt 17 or the lock bolt 19, and in the case of a latch bolt which has a locking mechanism which is operable when the latch bolt is fully extended, it is seen to be obvious that the locking mechanism is prevented from operating for the reason that the body 21 stops the bolt from entering the keeper opening, yet provides the lip 34 which engages the bolt suiiiciently to hold the door closed. In the case of a lock bolt, the use of the body 21 to cover the keeper opening in which the lock bolt extends, the body prevents that much of an extension and the lip 34 will engage the lock bolt at its free end in similar fashion, and being somewhat resilient and rounded, the lip 34 will release the lock bolt upon pressure suicient to straighten it without damage to either the door or to the jamb.

While a single embodiment of the invention has been here described and illustrated, many other modifications of the device may be made and employed and many changes and modifications are contemplated without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A safety clip for covering the bolt-receiving opening of a keeper for a door latch bolt, comprising: a V-shaped body including a pair of angularly related legs proportioned to extend across said opening and spaced apart at one end to receive an edge of the opening; and fastening means connecting the legs adjacent said ends thereof for adjustment toward each other to clampably engage the legs against said edge, comprising a screw having a head bearing against one leg and a shank threadedly engaged with the other leg, the legs being integrally connected at the other ends of the legs and said body including at said other ends of the legs a lip projecting laterally of the body adapted to engage a door latch bolt.

2. A safety clip for covering the opening of a door latch bolt keeper, comprising: a body formed as a wide, flat strip of sheet metal having a transverse bend inter- 3 mediate its ends forming the body into a V-shape to dene thereon angularly related legs proportioned to extend across said opening and integrally connected at one Yend at the location of the bend, said legs being spaced apart at their other ends to receive an edge of saidopening, the legs having intermediate their ends registering apertures with the aperture of one leg being formed Vwith threads; a screw extending through said apertures and having a shank threadedly engaged in the aperture of said one leg and a head bearing against the other leg to clamp the legs to said edge on threading of the screw in one direction; and a lip extending the width of the bodyV and 4 projecting laterally from the legs at said other ends of the legs adapted to engage a door latch bolt.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 987,271 Upton Mar. 21, 1911 1,054,450 Satzman Feb. 25,V 1913 1,790,104 Levitt et al.V Jan. 27, 1931 FOREIGN PATENTS n 422,489 Great Britain Jan. 14, 1935 

